Don't be a TinyJerk!

A sample chapter, revised for 1998

On MUDs -- now sometimes referred to as 'MU*s' to capture the wide variety of
platforms including MUSH, MUCK, MUX, etc -- your interactions with others take place
completely in text. Being polite, then, is all about making your text approachable,
intelligent, comprehensible, and respectful of those around you.

Remember that on a MU* there are none of the usual visual cues to indicate smiling or frowning, laughter or anger, so you must learn to indicate the mood of what you say by how you write it. You should be aware of mistakes that can make what you have to say
sound, even if on accident, obnoxious or mean-spirited. Let's take a look at a few
suggestions for MUD etiquette.

Obviously, you will be expected to obey the specific rules and policies
of the MU* you visit. These are listed in the news files (just type 'news')
in most cases, and sometimes in the info files (just type 'info'). Most
MU* policies include the basic directives not to harrass other users, not
to pursue their RL information if they prefer anonymity, not to use foul
language in public, not to do anything X-rated in public, and not to create
programs that will invade somone's privacy or become harmful to the database.
It is when these rules are broken that the wizards have a hand. Depending
on the crime, you might just get a warning, you might have your password
scrambled for a week so you can't log in (this is called banning a player,
a temporary thing), you might be suddenly booted (forcefully logged out,
usually accompanied by banning), or you might be toaded (@toaded) -- the worst and
most permanent punishment of them all. Wizards have access to a "@toad"
command that completely removes a character from the system by transforming
it from a player-object (something that can be logged into) into a regular
object called, for example, "A slimey toad named Watchman."